What I'm Grateful For Even in 2020
Surviving a mild case of COVID-19.
My family staying safe and healthy and not infecting anyone else that I know of.
My job and career and colleagues at NBC News.
Bonding time. So much bonding time.
Learning how to work from home.
Long walks around Central Park when it was empty and even now as it gets fuller.
Being alive during a period of world history that has been unpredictable, grim, uplifting, humbling, uniting, emotional, unforgettable, life-altering.
Reckonings on many levels: socially, politically, racially.
A year that has forced introspection.
Zoom/FaceTime/Google Hangouts for keeping us connected.
Learning so much more about my three girls, giving them random hugs and dance parties during the week, and hopefully creating positive memories and shaping more resilient kids.
Our friends who still sent us Christmas cards.
Yeast.
Online recipes.
Grocery delivery.
Music. Always music to change the entire mood and make me move.
Discovering Schitt’s Creek during my 10 days of COVID isolation. The last episode of Season 3 where Alexis graduates from high school—there is an Asian girl who takes her diploma as Jocelyn calls out “Sophie Newyin” that I swear was written as Sophie Nguyen. The show was the perfect distraction when I was kickin’ it solo in my bedroom.
Hot water bottles. Speaking of solo, I slept with a hot water bottle because it was freezing in my room with the air filter running/window open during my isolation so we could keep good air circulation and dilute my COVID fumes.
YouTube and Instagram exercise videos. That was fun at the start of the pandemic until work got crazy and I had to ditch the kids to do PE on their own.
My parents. Without whom literally none of my life is really possible. And I would eat far less well. They do a lot of work so I can do a lot of work. And somehow they manage to get sick 1/10th the number of times I get sick. My mom attributes it to their jungle bacteria from years of living in Vietnam. I wish I could bottle it and take it daily. I owe them a lot of vacation time in 2021.
Being reminded of what’s important in life always: health, family, love, joy, laughter, the ability to keep moving forward because we are lucky to be alive and free.
Bun bo hue with extra veggies and tofu when I was sick.